Semua Bab Silent Flames, Forbidden Paths: Bab 41 - Bab 43

It was one of those classes where the teacher didn’t give a shit anymore.The fan clicked uselessly above us, swirling the heat like an insult. Half the class was either sleeping, doodling, or pretending to “take notes” while texting under the table. Mr. Douglas, our world history teacher, was old enough to have lived through half the textbook and bored enough to read it like he was allergic to punctuation.I was trying my best to be invisible. Again.Head down. Eyes on my notebook. Pen in hand—but the ink had run out fifteen minutes ago. Didn’t matter. No one was paying attention to the lesson. But they were paying attention to me.Again.“There she goes, the slut of the season,” Kayla whispered behind me with a sugar-sweet giggle.I froze.Of course.Of course it had to be Kayla fucking Reynolds. Queen of whispers. Dictator of locker room rumors. She never missed a single chance to po

Worst of all?Cristiano Wright saw us.Nick and me. In the hallway.His eyes locked with mine. His gaze—cold, unreadable, razor-sharp. He didn’t say a word.But his silence screamed.It happened right after that goddamn meeting.After the too-white office with its fake plants and real judgment.After the smiling ethics teacher who spoke like she was brushing my hair but kept twisting it until it hurt. After the clipboard scribbles, after the word inappropriate floated between us like a curse no one dared to say out loud.After I walked out with my skin buzzing and my stomach in knots, wondering if everyone already knew.I didn’t even make it five steps from the office before I saw him.Nick.Leaning against the wall, scrolling his phone like he didn’t just rearrange his whole lunch break to wait for me. Because of course he did.He looked up, caught sight of me, and immediatel